Chicavasco

Rana Santacruz' music has been called Mexican Bluegrass or Irish Mariachi with a dose of rock and alternative. His music starts in Ireland, runs through Appalachia, swings through New Orleans, and careens across most of Mexico. The acoustic instrumentation includes cajn, upright bass, accordion, guitar, banjo, jarana, violin and trumpet. He cites his main influences as The Pogues, Tom Waits, Chavela Vargas, Agustn Lara, son jarocho, and tambora -- and folk music in general. Lyrically, his songs tell short tales about broken hearts, sailors, dogs, turkeys, and farewells. Chicavasco was produced by Rana Santacruz and Alex Venguer who also recorded and mixed the album and has worked with Aretha Franklin, Philip Glass, Sufjan Stevens, John Legend & Billy Joel, among others.